Immigration to Sweden continues and reached peaks in 2009 according to a migration report by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

Immigration to Sweden—record high
Immigration to Sweden continues and reached peaks in 2009, in spite of the financial crisis, according to a migration report by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). A total of 102,000 people immigrated to Sweden in 2009. Most of them were returning Swedish citizens, or citizens of Somalia and Iraq.

At the same time, the Swedish emigration decreased 13 percent compared with the year prior. Some 15,000 work permits were issued in 2009, an increase of about 50 percent since the year before. Almost half of all working immigrants come from Thailand, then India and China. In 2009, 24,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden—approximately the same number as the year before. The number of Iraqis applying for asylum in Sweden has decreased significantly during the past years, from 18,600 in 2007 to 2,300 in 2009.